Moments
by queenvictoriia
Summary: Snippets from Ariel's pregnancy with Melody. (CW: semi-graphic mentions of blood, near miscarriage, and non-graphic childbirth.)


The first indication that something is happening is the fact that the blood that has been coming out of her almost regularly every month since soon after she became human is late. She doesn't think much of this; her menstruation isn't always exact.

The second indication is when she gets a bout of what appears to be seasickness when on a small voyage with Eric, which makes no sense because she _grew up in the sea_. It is this that makes her realize that something is…off. (And much to her annoyance and slight concern, the nausea continues for the next few weeks.)

It is her husband that brings up that she could be pregnant. It is said mostly jokingly after she had a slight outburst over him saying something about her recent slight weight gain. It is a joke, and yet, it is so so _plausible_. It explains all the odd symptoms she has been having.

The first thing she feels about this realization is anxiety about the impending motherhood. She's afraid that she might not be a good mother. After all, for the majority of her life, she had no mother figure of her own. She doesn't have much to go off of.

But the love she already feels for the child that might be nestled within her outweighs the anxiety, bringing with it a sense of determination to be the best mother she can be as she places a hand on her stomach. She is beginning to show, making her truly believe (truly hope) that she is with child.

This is the moment she really realizes she is going to be a mother, and that makes her smile.

…

The pregnancy is not easy. That much is clear when she wakes up in the middle of the night bleeding and in absolute agony.

She is convinced she is going to lose the child. She hesitates to wake Eric up, ashamed that she has failed in being able to give him the child he has been so excited for. But her scream when a particularly horrific cramp spreads through her abdomen makes the decision for her as it startles her husband awake.

She's shaking and crying the whole time the doctor is checking her over. Eric squeezes her hand, attempting to comfort her. But they both know there isn't much he can do to comfort her right now.

She begins sobbing when the doctor proclaims that he does not think she has had a miscarriage, though now they are tears of relief. There is no way to be sure, but it at least is not certain that the child is lost. And that is enough for them, right now.

This is the moment she realizes that she loves this child more than anything else in the world.

…

She's sitting up in bed, singing to the child inside her ever growing belly when she feels the first kick.

She doesn't even realize what is happening at first; it is only a flutter. And so, she continues singing, smiling down at the bump.

It is the second kick that makes her realize the baby is moving. She laughs breathlessly, placing both hands on her stomach, wanting to feel more kicks.

Ever since the night of her near miscarriage, she has been half convinced that, despite the fact that her stomach has continued to swell, indicating that the baby was growing, she actually had miscarried. But now, she has confirmation that the child within her is alive.

Smiling brighter than she has in months, she calls for the nurse attending to her to go get Eric if he is not busy. She is vaguely still annoyed by the fact that she cannot even get up to go get him herself because she's been placed on bedrest, but she's too joyful to really care about that.

This is the moment that she realizes it is all real.

…

She groans as she is helped out of bed so that she can walk around for a bit. She is getting impatient for the baby to be born. Mostly because she wants to be able to hold him or her, but there's a small part of her that wants the child to be born because _they are so heavy_. Her back is perpetually aching at this point, and she cannot gain any semblance of balance because her center of gravity is just so off.

The kicking she was so happy about just a few months before has become nearly unbearable. She can't sleep because the child is always kicking. And sometimes, it really _hurts_.

Another thing that's been annoying her is that she hasn't been able to control her emotions in weeks. She almost feels bad when she snaps at Eric for really just trying to help her stay steady, but then she remembers that it's his fault she's in this situation in the first place.

It is so incredibly hard to walk, even if it helps slightly with the aching in her back. Oh, how she is so eagerly awaiting the birth of the baby, despite the amount of pain she knows she'll be in.

This is the moment she realizes that in just a few days, she's going to get to see her baby, and that makes her smile, despite the discomfort.

…

Labor is just as hard as her pregnancy has been. It's been nearly sixteen hours, and she is just so incredibly exhausted. She's been screaming for the past few hours, and despite the fact that her throat is so incredibly raw, screams keep coming through her parched lips.

There's a lot of blood, apparently. She cannot see it, but she can hear the others talking about how there's a good chance she will bleed out. (And at this point, she thinks that would be good if it will end the pain.) But, she is told to push nonetheless.

She doesn't bleed to death. After what feels like an eternity to her but is only about an hour, the child slips from her and gives off a loud cry. As exhausted as she is, she can't help but smile brightly.

They say it's a girl, and she so desperately wants to see her daughter. But they are busy cleaning both of them off, and so she must wait. The waiting, however, is not long and her daughter is soon given to her.

She cries from the utter joy of the moment when they hand the small bundle to her. Her daughter is just so beautiful. She is the perfect combination of both her and Eric. Their beautiful Melody.

The baby stops crying almost as soon as she is handed to her mother. Melody makes soft noises of content now that she is in her mother's arms.

She cannot stop looking down at her daughter, completely enthralled by her. Everything she went through during the pregnancy was worth it. She feels so much love for her daughter, and that makes her cry even harder.

This is the moment she realizes her life is perfect.


End file.
